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Discovery is an unassuming process at WorldFest-Houston International Film and Video Festival, a haven for indie films the world over. With over 50 films, 100 shorts, and 9 world premieres this year alone, this sun-scortched festival will play out over ten days, April 12-21, at the AMC Studio 30.
In it's reputable past, the WorldFest-Houston has been responsible for discovering some of the biggest names still working in the film industry today- Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ang Lee, Francis Ford Coppola, the Coen Brothers and countless others. With approximately 550 independent filmmakers in attendance, when they say that the next auteur could be out in the crowd, they really means it.
April 9thmarks the beginning of the much acclaimed Aspen Shortsfest. Boasting films that range anywhere from 2 to 40 minutes, this top-dog of the shorts festivals attracts talent old and new as films starring Hollywood regulars Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman will compete alongside new talent altogether. The Aspen Shortsfest takes place from April 9-14, 2013, at both the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen and the Crystal Theatre in Carbondale.
Held on the banks of the Gulf of Mexico in the Sunshine State since 1999, the Annual Sarasota Film Festival is entering its 15th year and has over 222 films to show for it. Featuring a slew of world and US premieres, the SFF has quickly become one of the prodigious and prestigious film festivals this side of the pond.
Rising from the ashes of the Sarasota French Film Festival that ran annually in the same city until 1996, the SFF has garnished even more positive attention and glowing reviews from the masses and was even called "the acme of regional film festivals" by Variety magazine in 2012.
March in New York City is all about the new -- seasons and otherwise. What better month to look towards new talent rather than the notoriously tepid stuff that lands at the mainstream theater chains where studios usually dump films not good enough to be summer blockbusters or to serve as late year awards fare?